


Mako Cartwheels

by flight_feather



Series: Heartbeat (Mia Shepard) [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect 1, Pre-Relationship, Shakarian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-29 22:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10146578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight_feather/pseuds/flight_feather
Summary: Quick drabble set in ME1. Something that came into my head during the Eletania mission (recover the data module from the pyjacks) and grew during the Bring Down the Sky mission (asteroid aimed at Terra Nova).





	

Wrex enjoys being picked for ground missions. It gives him a chance to do what he does best: destroy things. What he _doesn’t_ enjoy so much is Shepard’s driving of the Mako. He considers himself tough, a hardened mercenary, implacable against his foes...when standing on his own two feet, rather than being thrown about on treacherous terrain in a teeny-tiny tin can also occupied by a crazy human and, more often than not, an inexperienced, smart-mouth young turian. 

He will say this for them though: Shepard makes that tank _dance_ , and Vakarian always works miracles on the gun to hit his target in spite of it. Even if that dancing makes his stomach churn and his head spin, and even if he wants to be the one blowing things up. He’s not usually one to wax poetic - he’s a krogan warlord, not some asari artist - but he’s never seen someone jump _over_ an incoming missile. At all, but especially not in a small tank. 

The first time she does it, Wrex is certain that she’s certifiably insane and he’s about to discover if krogans can survive an exploding tank. That won’t feel good. It will involve burning. Burning makes regeneration difficult. And painful. 

He wants to shout at her to move, but bites his tongue. Surely she sees the thing. And besides, he can’t ruin his image. His stomachs roil though, and Vakarian, being a weeny turian and lacking Wrex’s own mental fortitude, mutters, “Commander...”

At the last possible instant, she shouts a wild “Yeehaw!” and punches the thrusters, yanking the steering yoke so that the Mako leaps off the low mountain it had been perched on and lands solidly on a lower slope, all six wheels spinning in the dirt for only a moment before roaring off towards the offending towers. Several lower but steeper hills are dealt with in the same fashion, the little tank cartwheeling off each in succession, sometimes sideways, but somehow landing squarely each time. A few more missiles are dodged with further blasts from the thrusters. Wrex feels his gorge rise as the stars above spin, only to be replaced with a too-close boulder of rock. Crushing hurts almost as much as burning, as far as regeneration goes.

“Commander!” Vakarian yells, and then it’s the stuttering of the guns, the thump of the cannon. Wrex doesn’t see the tower explode - he’s too busy throwing up. Some things are not meant to be. Like flying tanks. 

As they await pickup after the mission, Vakarian finally snaps. “Where did you learn to drive a Mako, Commander?” 

Wrex looks up, wondering if the turian is about to be put in his place, but Shepard only grins. “From the team that created the thing.” 

Vakarian’s mandibles drop, and Wrex pauses in irritably using the edge of his boot to push some of his vomit out of the tank. 

“You’re kidding,” Vakarian finally says. Wrex has defeated enough turians to know stunned disbelief when he hears it twanging through subvocals.

“Nope. Why do you think they made the Mako damn near indestructible? Officially it’s so that it can stand up to a variety of planetside environments. Unofficially? It’s because I trashed all the prototypes during N7 training.”

Neither Wrex nor Vakarian say anything for a moment as her smile turns prideful. 

“That makes so much sense,” Vakarian finally mutters. 

Wrex just drops his head, already dreading the next mission to volcanic Therum. Surely they don’t need an asari archeologist _that_ badly?

**Author's Note:**

> The idea that Shepard isn't a bad driver but rather a supremely confident one, and the possible reasons for that, amused me. I prefer using Shepard/Garrus for POV, but thought it could be fun to try Wrex for this one (especially since it's about Shepard and Garrus). 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Feedback welcome :)


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